Time Traveling Monk
by AvocadoLove
Summary: Don’t worry, Hakoda. It’s an old Air Nomad relic. What’s the worst that could happen?


**Notes:** Written for one of the contests in ATLAland. We had to pick a random quote from a generator and write a oneshot about it. Just a head's up: This plot is... kinda strange. Even for me. hehe.

**~~~~O~~~~**

_"That's just the way things go. We meet people, get to know them and then they get up and leave us behind."_ – Takayuki Ikkaku, Arisa Hosaka and Toshihiro Kawabata, Animal Crossing: Wild World, 2005

**~~~~O~~~~**

Aang came back into awareness slowly. Everything hurt. He groaned as the whole world seemed to tilt sickenly to the side, twisting around him in a cascading confusion of colors and sensations. What had happened? Was he ill? Maybe those sea-prunes had finally done more than just bust his gut…

A cool hand rested on his forehead, and abruptly the universe ceased its spinning.

"Aang? Can you hear me?"

His senses were slowly returning: He was laying flat on his back, his shoulder blades pressed against hard stone. Aang nodded carefully, and then winced as the movement made his head pound.

The cool hand moved to his cheek as if testing him for a fever. Aang opened his eyes – his vision still fuzzy and unfocused, but he could make out a tanned oval face above him, two patches for blue eyes and full lips.

"… Hey," he said, dazed.

Kya's fuzzy mouth stretched into a smile. "I thought for a second there you were going to ask me to go penguin sledding. How do you feel?"

Penguin sledding? He didn't get it, but the world hurt too much to figure it out. "I feel kinda like a herd of air bison are tap-dancing in my head."

"Well what you did _was _pretty stupid," Kya said. "You gave me a real scare."

"Hey, I told him not to mess with that thing." Another voice, male. "Seriously, who just goes and touches a mirror that says 'Do not touch cursed mirror' anyway?"

Aang snorted, despite the pain. The sharp headache was receding – maybe the tap-dancing airbison were taking a breather. He made to sit up, pushing Kya's hands away. "You're the one who dared me to do it, Hakoda."

Silence. Then, "What did he just call me?"

"Aang, look at me." Kya's face swam in and out again. It took an effort to focus, but details were becoming clearer now. Now he was able to see details; the soft lines of her face, cheekbones not set as high as before, and the slightly flatter nose.

He blinked.

"Who—Who are you?" Aang asked. He took a look around as he rubbed at his still aching head. This room was different than it had been before, and warmer come to think of it. Where was the snow? "Where's Kya?"

The strange girl (And she did look a lot Kya, almost as if Kya had a sister. Only Aang knew she didn't) gasped and drew back "W-what? What do you mean? Aang, it's _me_."

A boy stood only a few feet away, garbed in Water Tribe blue with his arms crossed over his chest. Just like the girl, the boy could have almost been the friend Aang knew – he even sounded a lot like him -- but Hakoda had never worn that look of deep suspicion in his eyes. Nor did he carry a boomerang -- proudly boasting of his skill with the war-club any day.

"Oh great," the boy said, throwing up his hands in exasperation. "That mirror thing messed up his head."

"Um, do I know you?" Aang stood, still feeling a little unsteady but the queasiness was rapidly fading. "Because you sort of look like my friends, but not."

"He's just confused," the girl replied, although she looked deeply troubled… and hurt. "Aang, it's me… Katara."

"I'm gonna get Toph and Zuko," said the boy, still giving him an odd look. He turned to the girl "Stay with him. Maybe he'll just snap out of it." And he was running out the door before Aang could object.

Aang turned to the girl. "Snap out of what? What's going on? Where is everyone?"

The girl – Katara – looked at him for a very long moment as if trying to decide if he should be taken seriously or not. "You're in the Western Air Temple," she said, slowly. "We've been hiding here for weeks. And Kya… She's was my mom."

"Yeah right." Aang grinned at her, thinking this was a fine joke. Twisting around, he searched the rooms for shadows or a hidden pillar where his friends had to be hiding. "Very funny, you can come out guys."

"Aang…" Katara reached over, turning him back to face her. "Sokka and I found you in the iceberg, remember? And how we went to the North pole, and… and Ba Sing Se?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but then stopped. Katara wore a necklace around her neck just like Kya did, the deep blue stone carved in familiar waves. "Hey, that's Kya's necklace, but…" He had _never _seen her without it. It was special to her; an heirloom passed down from her mother. There was no way she would ever take it off, not even for a really good joke.

Katara reached up to touch the blue stone. Her eyes were sad. "I told you she passed it down to me."

"But…"

He was cut off by the sound of running feet. Two more teens sprang into the room, the boy in blue following behind.

And Aang nearly had the fright of his life. There were no actual windows in this room, the only natural light shone in from an outside open corridor and late afternoon sun, making things filtered and indistinct. Aang looked at the tallest boy's profile, his high cheekbones, sharp nose and glittering yellow eyes, and leapt back with a yelp of shock.

The boy shot him an odd look out of the corner of his eye, but it was the short girl at his side who spoke first.

"What's wrong with Twinkletoes? Sokka said he hit his head."

"I don't know. He touched that mirror and now he thinks we're our parents." Katara replied, with a dubious look to Aang . "He called Sokka our dad's name earlier."

Aang was hardly listening, too busy staring at the new boy with wide eyes. "Um, so that's not Ozai?" he asked.

The Fire Nation boy scowled at him and crossing his arms over his chest. "Is that supposed to be some kind of joke?" The movement turned his face just slightly, and Aang could clearly see that he resembled the dread prince only on his right. The left was marred by a large burn scar.

The small Earth Kingdom girl grinned widely. "Sweet. So who do I look like?"

He tore his gaze from the boy with difficultly to look at her. "Uh, sorry." Aang said. "I don't think we've met."

"So… why does he think we're our parents, now?" the scarred boy asked.

"Because he touched the cursed mirror," Sokka replied.

"Why would it do something like that?"

He gave a shrug. "Because it's cursed. That's what they do."

"You guys, I don't _think_ anything." Aang said, interrupting the two. "Hakoda, Kya and I were exploring the Southern Air Temple and we sort of came across this mirror. I touched it, and the next thing I know, here I am." He looked around at a sea of incredulous faces. "Look, I'm not crazy."

"I don't think you're crazy," Katara said, softly. "But what you're telling us doesn't make any sense. I think our mom and dad would have mentioned if they found the Avatar."

"And my father wouldn't have sent me to find you if he thought you actually existed," the Fire Nation boy muttered, sullenly.

Sokka, though, was rubbing his chin in thought. "Wait, how long would you say you were in the iceberg, Aang?"

"About seventy-five years."

"Well it's been a hundred years for us."

Aang gasped, "One-hundred years?"

Finding out he had been frozen for seventy-five years was bad enough, but that was nearly a whole other generation's worth of more war, of even more people getting hurt and killed… all because he hadn't been there to stop it.

Sokka turned to the Fire Nation boy. "Zuko, how often would you say there's a solar eclipse?"

"A total eclipse over the Fire Nation?" He paused a moment to consider. "They're not common… Maybe every few years or so. Why?"

"Because it gives Aang here that much more time to get ready and learn all the elements."

"Oh don't tell me you believe him, Mr. Skeptic." Katara snapped, and she sounded very much like Kya at that moment… not that Aang would tell her.

Her brother shrugged. "Time travel makes more sense than him just losing his mind." He must have seen the doubtful looks the others were giving him, so he continued, "Look, this is _Aang_ we're talking about. Weird spirit-world journeys and talking with people who have been dead for hundreds of years isn't exactly out of the ordinary for him. Besides, if he's right and he comes from twenty-five years ago then there's that much more chances to stop the Fire Lord before the comet comes."

"Wait," Aang said, "What comet?"

Everyone exchanged long looks between each other (except for the short Earth Kingdom girl who just stared off into nothing with a grim expression). Finally Sokka sighed threw an arm around Aang's shoulders. "I think you better sit down, buddy. We got a lot to tell you."

**~~~~O~~~~**

It took a long time to tell him everything… It was so all different than Aang's own world.

Katara and Sokka had been the ones to find him in the iceberg here, not Kya and Hakoda. And it had been only after a feat of waterbending, and not the small earthquake which had dislodged the iceberg in Aang's own time.

The other Aang had spent only a couple days with the Southern Water Tribe while he had spent months – happy months getting to know his friends, penguin sledding, learning their culture, and positively _sure_ that they had to be mistaken whenever they tried to bring up the war.

Until the Fire Nation attacked.

Three ships had sailed into the village without any warning at all, practically out of the teeth of a gale. Prince Ozai had been looking for any remaining waterbender resistance and any whispers about the Avatar. The Water Tribe men had fought back, and Ozai killed them. He had his men set fire to the village in return. So many had been killed before Aang and his friends were able to lead Ozai away… including Hakoda's mother and best friend, Bato.

Aang, Kya and Hakoda had fled on Appa to the Southern Air Temple. Maybe in the back of his mind, Aang had still not believed the stories of a world at war -- that he had been gone so long. Surely, Kya and the others were mistaken. The monks would take pity on the tribe. Maybe they'd even take them in, help them rebuild their village, and Aang would apologize to Gyatso for running off…

But the temple had been empty for just over seventy-five years by the time he got there. The only thing left were old bones and a mirror that had inscriptions warning never to touch.

Now another twenty-five years had passed, and now Aang sat with the children of his friends and his enemy… and none of them had any memory of it at all. Gran-Gran Kanna, Bato and Hakoda were alive, but Kya… his beautiful best friend Kya was dead.

Night had fallen by the time the story had finished. This Aang sat in that other Aang's place at the campfire, knees tucked up to his chest, his throat as dry as an old strip of leather. He still halfway wished this was all part of some complex prank… only he had recently found out the dangers of living in ignorance.

"So you're telling me that I only have until the end of the summer to learn all the elements?"

Katara reached over to put her hand over his, just like her mother would have. "You were doing it, Aang. The other you had nearly mastered waterbending already and…" she trailed off, looking to the others for confirmation.

"Well, you just started firebending," Zuko said, hesitantly. It was strange to think that he had attacked the Southern Water Tribe in this time too, only he had not _killed_ people. And now they were all friends.

Toph was lounging back, cleaning in between her dirty toes with a stick. "Your earthbending still needs work." Sensing Aang's slumped shoulders, she added. "But you were getting there, Twinkletoes."

Aang looked up towards the sky as he felt the fate of the whole world – both worlds, his and this strange future one – on his narrow shoulders. "You guys said I only have a few weeks left. How am I supposed to do this?"

"But that's it! That's the key!" Sokka looked around at the others excitedly. The firelight put a glint in his blue eyes. "Now that Aang knows the comet is coming, he'll have years to master all the elements." He turned to Zuko. "And there has to be some eclipses where the Fire Nation is venerable between then and now, like you said. All we have to do is get him back and Aang can take care of the rest in the past to fix this future."

"Oh is that all?" Katara shot back, archly. "How is he supposed to even get back oh-great-planner?"

"That's easy." Sokka replied, "Just touch the cursed mirror again. It sent him here the first time, right?"

"Sokka, that thing knocked him out. Who knows what it could to if he tries it again!"

She had a point. Aang swallowed hard, and looked around at the others – familiar eyes in different faces. This was so weird. Still… "You're right Katara… it's dangerous, but I only know how to airbend, and that's not going to be very good when the comet comes. I have to try, at least." Aang glanced across the fire at Zuko. "If I can go back… Do you think that Prince Ozai will want to be friends, like you did?" It was a strange thought after what Ozai had done, but if Zuko could be forgiven, maybe…

But the other boy shook his head in a quick, angry gesture, and the firelight highlighted his scar. "No, don't ever try to change his mind. He'll just kill you if he can." His voice sounded rough, and Aang guessed that there was a lot of pain there.

Sokka put a hand to his friend's shoulder, but Zuko went on, "You're going to need to find my uncle Iroh. He's… well, later on he'll try to lay siege to Ba Sing Se, but around your time he'll be in the western Earth Kingdom. It won't be easy, but he's a good man... He was like a father to me."

Toph had been silent for the most part of the evening, except for when it came to telling her part of the story. Now she raised her hand. "I think all of you guys are missing the big picture here." Her head turned towards Katara and Sokka even as her misty green eyes remained blank. "What if Aang goes back and something bad happens to either of your parents, or your mother just starts making eyes at Aang like Sugarqueen does here?"

Katara sputtered, "I-I don't 'make eyes' at him!" and her cheeks darkened into a deep blush. But Toph wasn't done yet. She turned next to Zuko.

"Or what if Aang has to take out your father to stop the Fire Nation? Look, personally I think that I'll be okay, because my parents were betrothed ever since they were kids, but if Aang goes back and changes things then you guys might never be born."

A shocked silence fell over the group as each person pondered this, and what changing history would truly mean.

Zuko was the first to speak. His arms were crossed again over his chest, his head bent, putting his features into shadow. "No, he still has to go back."

"Maybe I don't—" Aang started, but the firebender cut him off.

"No, you don't understand. You don't know what it's like here. The Fire Nation has won, so many people have died because what my family has done. If the only way you can put things back in balance again is by killing my father… I understand."

Aang felt sick. He shook his head, looking towards the Water Tribe siblings. Katara and Sokka both nodded to him solemnly. They knew what they were risking: One change back in the past could mean a dozen or more changes here, but the war was bigger than all of them. It would be wrong to be selfish.

They were all so brave. Aang's heart thumped painfully in his chest as he looked at them all again… the other Aang was lucky, he thought, to get to know them.

"Thank you," he said, bowing his head. He didn't say as much, but he made a quiet promise to himself to make sure that everyone came out in the end. There had to be another way to stop the war other than destroying their future.

There was nothing more to say. Aang rose to his feet and the others followed, taking the short staircase back to the room with the mirror. Zuko lit a small fire in the palm of his hand for light and Aang stepped in front of the mirror. He turned to them one last time.

"You guys are sure about this?" he asked.

Sokka spoke for them all, offering up a wane smile. "Of course we are. We'll see you again in a few years, right?"

Aang tried to laugh. It came out a little weak. "Right." He took one last moment to look at them all, to etch their faces in his memory. Then he reached out and pressed one finger to the surface of the mirror.

There was a blinding flash of light, and Aang collapsed where he stood.

Katara rushed over to her friend while Sokka and Zuko were behind to trade glances. "Well… everyone still here?" Sokka asked, turning around as if expecting to see someone or something new. "No one poofed out of existence?"

Toph answered that question by punching Zuko hard in the shoulder. "Yup! Still here, Snoozles."

"Ow! What was that for?!" Zuko yelped.

Katara ignored them. All of her attention was on her friend. With gentle hands, she turned Aang over onto his back. He had a rising purple bruise where his head had hit the stone floor, and she called some water from her pouch to heal it. He stirred the moment the cool water touched his skin.

"Ugh… what happened?"

"Aang look at me." She turned his head and broke into a trembling smile when he cracked open his eyes. "What do you remember?"

He didn't answer right away, instead reaching up to touch her hand. His speech was slow, coming between faint winces. "The last time I saw you like this… I asked you to go penguin sledding… We should go again… When all this is over."

She laughed, and, forgetting the fact that he must have been in pain, leaned down to hug him. "You're back!"

"Yeah…" He was hurting, but with her so close like this he didn't dare complain. "Wait, why? Where'd I go?"

**~~~~O~~~~**

In another temple, in another time, in another universe, another Aang opened his eyes and looked up at the worried face of his friend. "Kya?"

"You're awake!" Kya looked torn between lecturing him, and hugging him. Luckily, she did the latter, releasing him after a few moments. "I was so worried. You were unconscious for so long!"

Unconscious? Had it all been a dream? It seemed too vivid, the faces and personalities too real to be made up.

"I can't believe you let Hakoda talk you into touching that thing," she continued, heedless of his confusion. "When I get through with him—"

"Kya." He reached up and gripped her hand in his own, interrupting her tirade. Everything still hurt, but he knew now that the pain would fade, and he had to tell her – Not everything, certainly, but some. "Kya… I know what we have to do, now." He paused and took a deep breath. "We have to go North."

"North? Why?"

"I have to learn waterbending and earthbending and I have to find Iroh. He has to be on our side, or I'll never learn firebending."

She looked oddly at him and reached out to feel his forehead as if checking for fever. "You're not making sense. Are you sure you're okay?"

Aang nodded and struggled to sit up. The whole world swum in and out of focus, but the bite of cold air on his cheeks was at least familiar. He was home, and now he knew what he had to do to make things right.

"I'm okay, Kya," he said, looking at his friend and remembering the face of another girl so much like her, as well. "And… I think we'll be okay, too."

_~Fin~_


End file.
